Anne Hathaway's decision to stop drinking until her son is grown isn't 'a moralistic stance' (exclusive)

Anne Hathaway has put drinking on hold for the next 18 years.

The 36-year-old actress covers the May issue of Modern Luxury and discusses why she decided to stop drinking while her son, 3-year-old Jonathan, is living at home.

"I didn’t put [a drink] down because my drinking was a problem; I put it down because the way I drink leads me to have hangovers and those were the problem. My last hangover lasted for five days," she reveals. "When I’m at a stage in my life where there is enough space for me to have a hangover, I’ll start drinking again, but that won’t be until my kid is out of the house."

Despite her personal choice, Hathaway does not believe that abstaining from alcohol is necessary for all parents.

"I just want to make this clear: Most people don't have to do such an extreme thing. I don't think drinking is bad," she says. "It's just the way I do it -- which I personally think is really fun and awesome -- is just not the kind of fun and awesome that goes with having a child for me. But this isn't a moralistic stance."

For Hathaway, deciding to stop drinking is just another step in trying to live the best, most pain-free life possible.

"I’ve recently been on a streak where things are just starting to work, so I can share that with people, and they can take from it what resonates and ignore what doesn’t," she says. "I am not some relentless self-improver, but I am trying to learn to live in the world with as little pain as possible."

Hathaway initially revealed her decision to stop imbibing during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in January. While on the daytime talk show, Hathaway recalled a turning point after a night of partying with Matthew McConaughey and his wife, Camila Alves, while shooting Serenity.

"We drank the night away, and then I had to go to a meeting with Steven Knight, our director, the next day, and I was just kinda... stumbling in with one eye open and I was trying to convince him about certain things about my character," she said. "And at the end of it I said, 'Listen, I have a confession. I was hungover the entire time.' And he just goes, 'Oh, really? I couldn't tell.' Then two days later we had another meeting and I showed up and said, 'Oh, now I can tell.'"

She also went into more detail about how Jonathan, whom she shares with husband Adam Shulman, influenced her decision.

"I don’t totally love the way I [drink] and he’s getting to an age where he really does need me all the time in the mornings," Hathaway explained. "I did one school run one day where I dropped him off at school, I wasn’t driving, but I was hungover and that was enough for me. I didn’t love that one."

During her sit down with Modern Luxury, Hathaway also discusses starring alongside Rebel Wilson in the upcoming flick, The Hustle. The film is a female-centric remake of the 1988 Steve Martin flick Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and follows the two female scam artists who team up to take down the men who have wronged them.

"It was really hard not to break in front of her," Hathaway admits of Wilson. "Rebel has this gift where she pulls comedy out of the air -- I don’t know how else to describe it. She is quite reserved in real life, which I was surprised by. There’s an understated quality to her -- she keeps herself like a coiled spring. When it comes time for comedy, it just all comes out."

"I had a stifled belly laugh every single day," she adds.

The Hustle hits theaters on May 10.